A wildfire burning near homes in British Columbia's southern interior has prompted the first evacuation alert of B.C.'s barely three-week-old wildfire season. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued the alert for the small community of Canford and for homes in a subdivision about 12 kilometres northwest of Merritt. The BC Wildfire Service says the suspected human-caused blaze was fanned by winds after being sparked on Sunday and now covers an estimated one square kilometre. It is one of about a dozen wildfires reported Sunday from southern Vancouver Island to the Prince George and Cranbr

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he has contacted the city's chief of police after several gatherings on the weekend violated COVID-19 health restrictions. In a message posted on social media, Stewart says the Vancouver Police Department will be reassessing its approach to outdoor parties. Large groups of mostly maskless people held impromptu gatherings in parks and on beaches Friday and Saturday as the first warm spell of the year created summer-like conditions. Police can issue tickets and even make arrests if they see gatherings of more than 10 people, but a police spokeswoman says offi

Vancouver police say one man was killed in what they believe was a targeted shooting in a downtown neighbourhood.They say there have been no arrests.Police say they were called to the Coal Harbour area Saturday night after numerous 9-1-1 calls about shots fired.Const. Tania Visintin says the shooting occurred in a public area at about 8:30 p.m. outside Cardero's restaurant near the Coal Harbour Quay.She says the victim died despite efforts by police and emergency officials to save him.Visintin says the popular location of the shooting put innocent people at risk. She says the man's death is V

BC is reporting 1,005 new cases of COVID-19 today. Six more people have died after contracting the illness, bringing the death toll in the province to 1,530. There are 10,081 active infections in BC, another new high. 425 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 127 in intensive care. BC's health minister says he appreciates efforts by the federal government to boost COVID-19 vaccine supplies despite a shortage from Moderna. Adrian Dix says he's disappointed the company has announced it would slash its vaccine shipments in half through the rest of April. But he says Ottawa is promisin

Surrey RCMP is urging Vaisakhi celebrants and Kissan supporters to keep Public Health Orders in mind this weekend. Unfortunately, large-scale Vaisakhi celebrations have been canceled again this year in Surrey due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is anticipated that many community members will participate in small COVID-friendly celebrations. Surrey RCMP is also aware of Kissan rallies and a Sikh motorcycle event set to take place this weekend. Surrey RCMP is urging the public to abide by current Public Health Orders which have placed restrictions on outdoor gatherings and prohibit indoo

Several temperature records have tumbled in BC as unseasonably warm weather speeds the arrival of spring. Environment Canada says 12 record highs were set yesterday in Bella Coola, Burns Lake and Smithers to parts of the Sunshine Coast, Sea-to-Sky corridor and along the Malahat on Vancouver Island. The hot spot for all of Canada was Squamish, with a record of 27.1 degrees, breaking the community's former record for the day of 24.5 degrees, set 12 years ago. Several of the records broken yesterday were set in 1947 but the longest-standing record fell in Pemberton, where the mercury reached 26.

British Columbia's provincial health officer says the province likely has the largest proportion of COVID-19 cases involving the variant first identified in Brazil, but that's partly because it is testing more for that strain. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the Vancouver Coastal region is leading all other health authorities with about 70 per cent of P.1 variant cases because of a large number of cases linked to the resort town of Whistler. She says that overall, just under 60 per cent of daily cases involve variants, including the one first associated with South Africa, though those cases are negligi

Surrey RCMP is looking for the public’s assistance to locate a man who is wanted in connection with multiple frauds. This investigation began after Surrey RCMP Frontline officers responded to a number of reports of fraud between November 6, 2020 and December 24, 2020, where victims lost a combined total of $10,635. The frauds occurred at various financial institutions. In each occurrence, victims were allegedly approached by a man who claimed to be in dire need of money, who requested their help. Victims were asked to deposit a cheque into their account through an ATM, and to withdraw funds

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) continues to address risks and threats at the border to keep our communities safe. Today, the CBSA announced that border services officers seized 64 bricks of suspected cocaine in the Pacific Highway District. On March 18, 2021, a commercial driver entered Canada in a tractor-trailer carrying personal care products. During the secondary examination, border services officers used a wide range of detection tools and technology to inspect the goods, and noticed anomalies. Border services officers unloaded the trailer, found